Fred Lynn, Rookie Sensation July 7, 1975

The year was 1979, two decades before newscasters firstmispronounced androstenedione, and Fred Lynn was on a surprisingpower surge that had sportswriters befuddled. Lynn, the BostonRed Sox' centerfielder, was showering the bleachers withbaseballs at a pace that resulted in his nearly doubling hiscareer high of 22 home runs. After some thought, reportersdecided that Lynn's power had to be the product of his fancy newoff-season strength builder, a then unfamiliar machine calledNautilus. "The media kind of took it and ran with it," says the48-year-old Lynn, a part-time TV baseball analyst who still usesthe weight-and-pulley system, now seen in gyms everywhere. "I'dnever lifted before, so I felt a difference: I didn't have to hita ball right on the screws to hit it out."

Lynn went deep a career-high 39 times that year, winning thebatting title in the process, but it was the only time hematched the unreal expectations wrought by his explosive 1975rookie campaign, when he led the Sox to the World Series andbecame the first player to win both the Rookie of the Year andMVP awards in the same season. Despite winning four Gold Glovesand making nine All-Star Game appearances (in '83 he hit theonly All-Star grand slam, a bomb that left first-time All-Starpitcher Atlee Hammaker of the San Francisco Giants traumatized,apparently for the rest of his career), Lynn never quite livedup to his promise. He retired after the '90 season with 306 homeruns and a .283 lifetime average. The man once touted as TedWilliams, Tris Speaker and Carl Yastrzemski rolled into oneended up more like George Foster, an outstanding player strandeda cab fare short of the Hall of Fame.

Not that this seems to bother Lynn. If easygoing were avocation, Lynn might just be employee of the decade. Since hestopped playing, he has enjoyed the sunbaked life in La Costa,Calif., where he lives with his wife, Natalie, and their cat,Panther, a former stray who Fred says fills the role of "varminteradicator" at the Lynns' secluded four-bedroom house threemiles from the beach. To keep busy in retirement, Lynn has donecolor commentary for ESPN, CBS and Fox and has played Mr. Mom tohis two children from a previous marriage, 22-year-old Jason and21-year-old Jennifer. However, ask the self-effacing Lynn whathe has been up to, and he first mentions another source ofpride. "Well," he says after a moment's pause, "I lowered myhandicap from 13 to four."